Layer 3 Switches

The software-controlled routers are getting rejected while hardware implementations like routing switches are getting accepted.
The routing functionality is integrated into routing switches.
This provides routing capabilities at near switching speeds and should eliminate old technology router bottlenecks.
Layer 3 is the Network layer in the OSI model.
This layer controls the routing of messages across different networks as well as network flow and traffic management.
A standard switch normally operates from the Data Link Layer of the OSI model.
But the Layer 3 switch operates in the Network layer to perform high-speed routing functions.